People For Puget Sound

WEC’s People For Puget Sound program is dedicated to protecting and restoring Puget Sound to health. Puget Sound is the largest estuary in the country by volume, rich with ecological diversity. The region is also the lifeblood for urban and rural communities that rely on the Sound for economic opportunity and a high quality of life. However, Puget Sound’s cherished natural beauty conceals its rapidly deteriorating health. Recovering the Sound will require broad collaboration, innovative approaches, and a long-term commitment.

For the past twenty years, People For Puget Sound and WEC have worked together to protect the Sound, as separate organizations and now with People For Puget Sound as a program of WEC. We helped establish the Puget Sound Partnership, forced the Department of Ecology to adopt stronger permits to curb polluted runoff, secured some of the nation’s strongest oil spill prevention and response safeguards for marine waters, updated the Shoreline Management Act, pushed for statewide funding of clean water projects and toxic cleanups, and much more. These accomplishments provide the foundation for our continued focus on clean water, oil safety, and a healthy and productive habitat for orcas, salmon, and the many species who call Puget Sound home.